So after a couple of attempts to reach Charles the New England Regional Manager, I finally got through tonight.

The first interesting thing I learned (when I explained that the replacement windows looked horrible with such a large frame around it), was that sales dude was supposed to have held up little demo corners for me to look at so that I’d see what it looked like. I didn’t even know what he was talking about.

Then I told him about pricing out replacement vs new construction windows, and how the price difference per window was $200. Well, that set him off & running, with me unable to get a word in edgewise. He went on & on about how the new construction window price didn’t include the installation labor, or the warranty. I *finally* managed to get him to slow down enough to explain that I priced out *both* windows without installation, and so that price difference should be the same, with out without the installation price on both, assuming that the markup is the same.

“Ohhhh…” – I think he got it.

So then he said “Well, what do you want to do about this? A Home Depot Gift Card”? To which I gave a resounding “NO”. Then I explained that they actually have $400 of my cash. Real money. That I worked for. On the other hand, if I get a $400 gift card (assuming a markup of 33.333% over cost, which I am guessing is on the low side), I end up buying stuff that cost them $300, and they get to pocket the remaining $100 that I overpaid. Doesn’t seem right, does it?

So he seemed reasonable about it (so far). I said that I would go check out the actual price difference and get back in touch with him. He, like everyone else at THD, is pretty nice.